The Middle East quartet has ordered Israel to halt all settlement activity and return to peace negotiations following a week of fresh violence in the region.

Violent clashes broke out in East Jerusalem on Tuesday after Israel reopened access to and from the occupied West Bank plus the al-Aqsa mosque compound after announcing another 1,600 homes are to be built in the disputed area of the city.

International diplomats, including UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, EU foreign high representative for foreign affairs Catherine Ashton and the quartet's special representative Tony Blair, are currently meeting in Moscow to discuss the ongoing crisis.

Speaking at a press conference earlier, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov declared Israelis and Palestinians should now move restart indirect talks which had been due to start last week but were delayed following the construction announcement.

A statement read by Mr Ban also said the quartet had urged the government of Israel "to freeze all settlement activities".

The UN chief also said negotiations between the two sides should result in a resolution to the conflict within the next 24 months.

The meeting in Moscow comes amid rising tensions between Israel and the US following the decision by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Israeli government announcing the 1,600 new homes during a visit by US vice president Joe Biden.

Barack Obama and Mrs Clinton have both denied the relationship between the two nations had reached crisis levels, with the US president describing Israel as "one of our closest allies" but admitting his administration did not agree with Mr Netanyahu's actions claiming they had been "unhelpful".

The political bickering comes as violence in the region continues to escalate. Today it was confirmed Israeli aircraft has launched a series of strikes on Gaza in response to rocket attacks on Thursday.

Israeli planes are said to have targeted at least two targets following the death of a Thai agricultural worker near Ashkhelon on Thursday.
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